Carbon nanotubes (in the following, referred to as CNT) have been known to have excellent mechanical strength, thermal conductivity, and electric conductivity. Thus, use of the CNT for various industrial products has been examined.
For example, the CNT is used for a thermal conductive material (Thermal Interface Material: in the following, referred to as TIM) disposed between the electronic component and the heat sink.
For such a TIM, for example, Patent Document 1 has proposed a thermal interface pad including a substrate and CNTs arranged in arrays on both sides of the substrate (for example, see Patent Document 1).
Such a thermal interface pad is produced by allowing a plurality of CNTs to grow so as to be aligned vertically to the substrate by chemical vapor deposition. In the thermal interface pad, the plurality of CNTs grown on the substrate can conform to the subtle dents and bumps (surface roughness) of the surfaces of the electronic components and heat sinks, and therefore gaps can be prevented between the electronic component and the heat sink, and thermal conductivity can be improved.